When you have finished this section, take the Animals Functions Quiz.

The study of animals is called zoology.

Animals are different from plants in several important ways.

 Animals move much more freely than plants and are not rooted in
the soil.
 Animals take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide.
 Animals do not make their own food within themselves and
therefore do not have chlorophyll.
 Animal cells do not have a cell wall.
 Animals eat plants, but plants do not eat animals generally..
 Animals in general are more advanced in their structure than plants.

Because animals are more complex or advanced than plants, they have
different systems in their bodies to take care of the different jobs that
allow them to live and function. Below is a description of these systems
and illustrations of organs of these systems in humans. These systems
are:

Muscular/Skeletal - The
muscular/skeletal system of an animal
refers to the systems that give the
animal its shape, protects its organs
and allows it to move. Animals' bodies
are protected in many ways. For some
animals it is an outer skeleton or
exoskeleton that protects their body.
For others it is an inner or internal
skeleton that protects the body. These
skeletons give the animal bodies their
shapes. An animal's form or body can
be arranged to have

 Asymmetry - No specific form

 Radial Symmetry - There is a
center to the animal's body from
which limbs or arms come out
from as if from a circle, much
like the spokes on a bicycle
wheel.
 Bilateral Symmetry - This means
that an animal has two sides that
are almost exactly the same on
each side. Thus if you drew a
line down the middle of the
animal's body, one side would
be a mirror image of the other
 side.

Reproduction - This is how an animal

makes more of itself or has babies.
Animals can reproduce several ways.

 Fission - Splitting in half.

 Budding - Growing buds that
break off to form new animals
 Sexually - This is where a male
and female member of a species
mates to reproduce a new animal
baby.

Excretion - This is how an animal gets

rid of wastes after it uses energy to do
its work. In humans kidneys and skin
do this job.

Digestion - This is how an animal

breaks down the food it takes into its
body. In humans the mouth, stomach
and intestines are part of the digestive
system.

Respiration - This is how an animal

takes in oxygen and gives off carbon
dioxide as it uses energy. In humans
the nose, throat and lungs would be
part of the respiratory system
 Circulation - This allows food and
energy to be distributed throughout the
animal's body. In humans the heart,
blood and blood vessels are part of the
circulatory system.

Nervous - This is how an animal takes

in information from the world and uses
that information to react to the world
and to go about its life. This would
include the animal's senses, its brain
and nervous system.

All of these systems influence where an animal lives and how it survives.
An animal that needs to live in water would not survive long on land and
vice versa. Depending on how advanced these systems are in animals
determines the group they belong in as well as how alike the systems are
between and among the animals.

Animals Animal Animal Protozoa - Sponges -

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